Various types of wrist supporting devices that restrict movement of the wrist in one way or another are available for a variety of purposes. The motion(s) restricted and the way(s) in which way in this is achieved varies.
For example, a bowler's wrist brace is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,479,648, which issued Oct. 30, 1984. This brace includes a rigid channel member custom fit for receipt of a wearer's forearm therein. The brace is designed for supporting a wearer's wrist when throwing a bowling ball and so endeavors to ensure that a predetermined angle between hand and wrist is maintained for a proper release of the ball from the bowler's hand.
In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,766, issued Apr. 20, 1993, describes a wrist brace which aids healing of a fracture of the lower end of the radius, known in the medical community as a "Colles fracture". The brace is intended to be worn by a person throughout the healing process and so is adjustable to permit the degree of restriction placed on the wearer's wrist to be varied, particularly pivotal movement of the wrist about the radiocarpal joint, depending upon the stage of repair of the person's wrist. To this end, the brace is composed of several parts. The desired fit is rather precise and use of an X-ray machine in fitting of the brace is described.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,092, issued Mar. 3, 1998, describes a protective arm and wrist guard for use by a sports participant, particularly a snowboarder. The guard comprises a substantially rigid dipartite sleeve adapted to receive the distal forearm, wrist and proximal portion of a hand; thumb receiving region at one end of the sleeve to receive and partially surround the base of the thumb of a user and retaining straps to hold the sleeve on the arm of a user.